soul-bound
by pastel-chan
Summary: What if Oreki Houtarou… was dead? Oreki Houtarou is a ghost stuck in Kamiyama High because of an accident that happened at school ten years ago. Only being able to lounge the halls because of his inability to be seen by regular humans, it is unusual when he meets a girl that seems to be the only one that can see him… ; "Who are you, Chitanda Eru?"


"Hello! I am Fukube Satoshi! I hope we can get along!" cheered an extravagantly-excited brown-haired boy. The boy seemed to be friendly enough, with a heart-warming smile and a personality that assured him a good reputation in the hell-hole he got himself for the next four years of his life-

"Unless he ends up dying…" grumbled the green-eyed brunette at the back of the classroom, leaning against the back chalkboard.

Except, no one heard him.

"Let's hope for your poor soul, that you won't end up like me," the individual spoke again, darting his eyes at the directed boy, who, of course, hadn't heard him. "What are the chances of you _also_ absorbing a toxic chemical through your skin just because you forgot to put on your safety gloves given that you were way too tired to even _breathe_ because you were studying for a test that you didn't _even_ get to take because you, well, I don't know, _died_? You wouldn't want to be the second kid to do that, because your name would be even more infamous than the foolish Oreki Houtarou, right?"

Oreki stared at the brown haired boy for a few more seconds.

"Did you guys hear something?" The brown haired boy spoke once more, his face expression contorted into one of utter confusion. "I could have sworn I heard something."

Oreki's eyes widened.

_Oh my God._

A few members of the class agreed, staring at the back of the classroom. The brown haired boy, Fukube Satoshi, seemed to stare right at Oreki.

"Unusual…" The boy whispered, narrowing his eyes. After a sense of silence in the room, the classroom's teacher continued with the individual introductions, as if every member in the classroom forgot about the incident.

Oreki, however, remained in the back of the classroom, frozen, wide-eyed, and pale-faced.

No, what? Oreki thought. This is impossible!

Oreki walked through the wall, his passage leading to one of the many school hallways.

_Why does this keep happening? It's always around this time of year, too…_

Oreki sighed, stepping into another classroom. This time, the classroom was almost empty, a girl slowly preparing herself for her next class… thirty minutes early.

_Good,_ Oreki thought again, running a hand through his hair. Oreki sat on the teacher's desk, propping himself to view the classroom. _The last thing I need is a bunch of teenagers giggling and staring wide-eyed everywhere-_

"Oh, hello! Are you in this class, too?"

Oreki looked up, prepared to eavesdrop as much as he wanted to on two individual's conversations.

But… there was no one else in the room.

And the girl was staring _at him._

"Are you in this classroom as well?" the girl repeated herself, smiling pleasantly at Oreki.

Oreki's jaw had dropped. _This,_ Oreki confirmed, was the creepiest thing to ever happen after ten years of living as a ghost. For a human to suddenly just, well, talk to you out of the blue like you're still _alive-_

Slowly, Oreki raised his left hand to point at himself.

"…Me?" He whispered hoarsely, his eyes wide.

If this girl replied to him, he wouldn't know how he would live _(ha!) _from now on. Knowing that his presence was still available in some way on Earth was stunning. If it were possible, Oreki could find a way to contact his family and tell them, hey, _I'M STILL HERE! GET ME OUT OF HERE!_

"Yes! We're both rather early, so I thought it would be nice to talk, no?" the girl replied, her purple eyes shining rather brightly. She placed her things on a desk located in the back of the room and walked over to Oreki.

"I am Chitanda Eru. It's nice to meet you!"

If Oreki could commit suicide, he would.

"U-Um…"

Oreki stared at the girl with a bewildered face. It was rather rude to look at someone with such an attitude, but he honestly didn't have to worry about other's opinions…

Until now.

"What's your name?" Chitanda smiled, her calm nature making him relax a bit. He squirmed a bit under her pressure, but still managed to shakily spill out his name.

"O-Oreki H-Houtarou…"

Shit! Oreki mentally cursed himself. He should have said a fake name. Saying this name might have caused confusion for the girl, such as her maybe mistaking him for-

"Wow! You have the same name as that boy who died ten years ago!" Chitanda cried, her eyes wide. Oreki blinked.

Actually, maybe his chances of keeping his identity a secret would be easier to hide than he thought.

"Y-Yeah, it's a pretty common n-name," Oreki muttered, getting uncomfortable at how close Chitanda was getting. The girl was practically on his lap… except…

"Shit!"

Oreki leaped off the desk and got into the farthest corner away from Chitanda. The girl seemed to be confused, not noticing that he had ran purposely to avoid her.

"Oreki-san, why are you over there?"

"U-Uh… This corner has a nice view?"

Oreki couldn't touch anyone. _Anyone._ It wasn't possible to be able to reach out for any human alive because his hand would go right through the body. Chitanda finding this out would freak out, and this would only cause drama.

The only way Oreki was able to be put to rest was for the school to be burnt down, freeing his soul that was bound to the school.

_I guess you could say school loves me._

"A-Anyway, I still… I gotta go!" Oreki stuttered, his bewildered expression making Chitanda smile.

"Alright. I'll see you around, Oreki-san."

Oreki ran out the door (he made sure the door appeared to be open, thank you very much), and escaped to a supply closet located on the far end of the hallway.

"This girl…" Oreki panted, "is going to be the end of my existence."

And Oreki already knew that this was not the last time he'd see her.

* * *

**A/N: **Oh my gosh! Another story-related update?! Within an elapsed 24-hours?! Well, let me tell you.

_yus._

LOL. So, I write for hyouka! Surprise? I've been wanting to write for this story, and because of a 2 minute plot process, I was able to accomplish this. It's a bit upsetting, considering this archive isn't at all as active as the Vocaloid one, but it is something a girl can change, right? c:

Please review? I won't know if anyone's reading if you don't review! And no reviews, means no update!


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